Is there an answer to that question? I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but I think that teachers will always be a little behind the learning curve when it comes to digital media.
Here are a few bits from the article that I think will resonate with many of you.
The classroom exists entirely outside the hyperactive media sphere that teenagers today inhabit every other moment they're awake.
The bigger problems are the lack of teacher training and the fundamental mismatch between a 20th-century curriculum and its associated pedagogy, and 21st-century learning. Teachers are overworked, underpaid, time-poor and overcommitted. They may have enormous influence over the minds of their students, but they have little control over the curriculum.
curriculum designers have to accept the computer as a powerful, flexible, ubiquitous tool that can be integrated into the curriculum's DNA
I'm curious to see the conversation this generates. Please read the article and post your thoughts here. Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.
Brace For a Steep Re-Learning Curve
3 comments:
Jennifer,
I agree that this is a huge dilemma. The article does an excellent job of drawing out some of the problems.
The question is, what will be done about it?
Laptops in the classroom may drive change. But what about first, laptops in the teacher's hands?
There's something about having your own portable device that makes a huge difference to your use of it.
But the article really points out effectively all the other issues for teachers, like lack of time, overcommitment, lack of training, etc.
So, what do we do?
Carolyn,
I think the answer is that society needs to accept that the needs of tomorrow's student can't be met by their great-grandparents' education schema. We need to think outside the box and get creative. We need to redefine the roles of teacher and student. And, we need societal and political support and will to make that change. Teachers will require significant time and support to make that transition.
Jennifer
Interesting article and comments. My gut reaction, as someone who is a great advocate of mobile computing in the hands of the learners (teacher and student), is that we need to chill out a lot more and realise it is OK to say you did not know something, and then to join forces and find out the 'truth' together. This goes against the traditional method of teaching...sage and student etc but come on, what century are we living in?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Julie, Qatar Academy
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